Amazon Announces Two New Kindles, Prices Sure to Shock You

Today Amazon held a press conference where it was expected to announce a new Kindle tablet. Well, not only did it announce that tablet, known as the Kindle Fire, but it also announced two new Kindle e-readers with a shocking price. First up, we have a $79 Kindle. That's right, a Kindle for less than $100. This model has ads built right in, hence the low price, and slots under the ad-supported $114 Kindle already available. The best news is that the $79 Kindle ships today, so you can head on over to Amazon and place an order for the cheapest Kindle e-reader yet. The $79 Kindle foregoes a keyboard, so it looks like taking notes directly on the device is a no go.

Amazon was not done with just the $79 Kindle, as it went ahead and announced a $99 model called the Kindle Touch. This is another e-reader, but it uses an IR touch system for navigation and page turns. There is no keyboard to speak of on the Kindle Touch, which makes it a slimmer and smaller device than the regular Kindles. It has no buttons at all (the thing below the screen is a speaker grill), so everything will be handled by touching the screen. The Kindle Touch uses Amazon's "most advanced" E Ink display, and comes in a WiFi or 3G+WiFi model. The 3G+WiFi model will launch at a $149 price, which isn't all that much higher than the $99 WiFi model.

The $79 Kindle is available today, while the Kindle Touch models will ship on November 21st. You can pre-order the Kindle Touch starting later today.

Looking at the Amazon page for these devices, these do NOT replace the current Kindles it appears. Instead, the current Kindles are the "Kindle Keyboard." The new Kindles also have a 6in screen, like the Kindle Keyboard.